Botswana: Chobe National Park & Francis Town
Door: Nayan Heijmans
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Nayan
19 September 2016 | Botswana, Maun
The next morning we headed to Botswana, our fifth country of the trip (yes, we do count the couple of hours Zambia.) This was the first border crossing that went as smooth as when we arrived by plane in South Africa. We only had to pay 140 Botswana Pula to temporary import the Beast. Of course we didn’t have Pula’s yet, and while it was Sunday there was also no exchange building open. Luckily a kind gentleman offered us 150 Pula so we could pay our debt. He asked US$15 in return and we happily gave it to him (fair exchange rate, as we figured out later.)
Driving into Botswana went quite easy. It was even before we entered Chobe National Park (Chobe) that we saw an elephant cross the road in the distance. It was a nice sighting to see, however we would get so much more.
We were driving around 100km/h (which was the limit) in the park for some time while we saw a herd of elephants head towards the road. We hit the break and stopped on the side of the road. The herd crossed the road behind us at only 30-40 metres. This was really one of the most beautiful sightings I had ever seen.
After the herd had crossed we continued our way. After some time we spotted another herd, this time eating in the woods near the road. We drove a bit off-road towards them and stopped to make pictures. Of course they had spotted us and they moved a bit to protect the younger ones, always keeping an eye towards the strange white looking beast with two small white monkey-like-looking creatures inside. Yet another very beautiful sight to see!
Before they could become angry we continued our way towards our goal of the day: Khwai. After some while the tar road ended and turned into sand roads, so we turned our Beast into 4x4 mode and paved our way through. For those who have no experience with driving a 4x4 off the road, keeping the vehicle moving is one the most important things to not get stuck. Soon we came across other vehicles that drove very slow. At one point they even made us stop and you can guess what happened next. Our vehicle got stuck in the loose sand and there was no way that we could continue without digging it out or something. Thank you very much to the guys driving like snails in front of us, please stay at home in your retirement home next time, f*cking d*cks. (Sorry mom.)
So that’s what we had to do. We exited the car and started digging, with our hands or tree branches or whatever. Also putting tree branches in front and behind of our wheels so it would get more grip when trying to get out. After 5-10 minutes 3 cars passed us and the last car stopped in front of us, reversing the car towards ours. Finally, we thought, we were about to be saved.
The guy who exited the car was a young guy, in his early 30’s. They were traveling with 3 cars towards Maun, 125km passed Khwai. The guy pulled us out and we decided to stay with this convoy of cars, because if we would get stuck again, they could help us and vice versa. The early 30’s guy was third in the convoy, while we were fourth.
The next road was only about 50-70 km, but we could only go 20-30km/h. One of the three cars had a small trailer behind it, so that could not go good for long. And it didn’t.
The car with small trailer got stuck in the loose sand, so the front car decided to pull the car out. However, as experienced the early 30’s guy looked with driving off-road, the not experienced the in their 60’s looking guys in the front two cars looked. The front car got stuck as well and eventually we all had to try and dig them out. Then a big old truck approached us and they decided to give them a hand as well. First they tried to pull out the first car, but without success. Instead the truck broke its clutch. Luckily they were able to repair it, but also this cost some time. In the meantime also another car entered our line of cars behind us.
Eventually the truck pulled the first car back to movement and afterwards also the second car. We could now continue our way.
After some time we saw another herd of elephants and when it was 5 o’clock, we reached Savuti, more than 100km’s before our daygoal Khwai. It became clear to us that we wouldn’t reach Khwai, and the rest of the convoy wouldn’t reach Maun that day. Therefore we decided to set up camp in Savuti, while the rest of the convoy continued their way.
At first they charged us US$50 a person, for us to set up our own tent and sleep there one night. I would love to open my own camping area one day and charge every person US$50 for a small piece of land, for one night… such a rip-off.
After making some jokes about the price and other options, we said we would continue our way then, but the girl said we wouldn’t make it to any other camp. So she decided to give us a break. Since our car had a South African registration number we had to pretend to be Afrikaans. The price for people from South Africa was much lower than the price people from Europe had to pay. We ended up paying 411 Pula for the both of us (US$41.) This was really not allowed, so I think she kind of fancied François a bit.
We set up our tent, in the middle of Chobe, on a camping spot with no fences around. The toilet and shower building did have a wall, which looked like a war-bunker to keep out the animals. 10 metres next to our tent laid elephant poo. They could really get close towards us that night. After we (there was no restaurant, so we had to) cooked our own chakalaka, pasta and tuna dinner we watched the stars and drank some wine. In the distance we could hear some elephants trumpet from time to time.
Just before we went to bed, I had to go to the toilet. So I walked the 100metres with a small torch to the bunker. After about 15 metres I heard a lion roar in the distance. Luckily it stayed in the distance and I only spotted a small mouse on my way to the bunker. We had really camped in the middle of nowhere, right between the wildlife.
The next morning we decided to skip Khwai and continued our way to Maun. While the first hours were bad sand roads again, afterwards the sand road improved and eventually some 40km before Maun the sand road turned into tar. Finally some comfort and driving speed again!
Once in Maun it was only around 13:00. Here we looked a bit around and asked a Dutch owned lodge if they had any accommodation available. Sadly they didn’t and they also told us there was not much left to do that afternoon, since all activities start in the morning. We asked one more sleeping place but also they didn’t have any activities left that day. Therefor we decided to have lunch (a very nice real beef burger!!!!) and continued our way towards Gaborone or Francistown.
At Khumaga we found a camping site named Tiaan’s Camp. An old friendly guy named Jack ran the campsite. He asked us how it was possible that we arrived that late (around 4 maybe?), so we told him that we came from Savuti that morning. He was really surprised that we made it this far in one day.
Jack was a friendly but strange fellow. When we asked if he served dinner or breakfast he said that he didn’t have it, because he already had a couple of people eating in his restaurant. Chakalaka, pasta and tuna it was, which was again very tasty. In the morning we had packed our stuff and we decided to have a coffee before leaving. We asked Jack for two coffees and he said: “we don’t have coffee right now, because they are busy with making breakfast.” Very strange, since we think that coffee is made for breakfast? Well all right Jack, old champ, Thank you and good-bye.
On our way towards Gaborone or Francistown, we decided to visit the Kalahari Desert. After we had dodged multiple cows, donkeys and goats on the road we left the tar road and entered the desert. The sight was truly amazing and the sand reached as far as the eye could see. We saw some ostriches and decided to return to the tar road after we had made some pictures.
After these sightings, we thought we should head for Francistown. After a couple of hours drive we arrived and went to our hotel, called City Inn. In Francistown we had the Beast cleaned from the inside and out. Finally, all the dust from the sandy roads was gone. We assumed…
The next day we took our time for once and left Francistown between 11 and 12. We headed for Pilanesberg National Park South Africa, which would be a real struggle, since the one gps app said it would take 7 hours; others said it would take 10 hours. In Europe this would be no problem of course, however in Africa, driving at night is highly NOT recommended because of all the dangers it brings.
After some hours we crossed the border, we were back in South Africa.
Driving into Botswana went quite easy. It was even before we entered Chobe National Park (Chobe) that we saw an elephant cross the road in the distance. It was a nice sighting to see, however we would get so much more.
We were driving around 100km/h (which was the limit) in the park for some time while we saw a herd of elephants head towards the road. We hit the break and stopped on the side of the road. The herd crossed the road behind us at only 30-40 metres. This was really one of the most beautiful sightings I had ever seen.
After the herd had crossed we continued our way. After some time we spotted another herd, this time eating in the woods near the road. We drove a bit off-road towards them and stopped to make pictures. Of course they had spotted us and they moved a bit to protect the younger ones, always keeping an eye towards the strange white looking beast with two small white monkey-like-looking creatures inside. Yet another very beautiful sight to see!
Before they could become angry we continued our way towards our goal of the day: Khwai. After some while the tar road ended and turned into sand roads, so we turned our Beast into 4x4 mode and paved our way through. For those who have no experience with driving a 4x4 off the road, keeping the vehicle moving is one the most important things to not get stuck. Soon we came across other vehicles that drove very slow. At one point they even made us stop and you can guess what happened next. Our vehicle got stuck in the loose sand and there was no way that we could continue without digging it out or something. Thank you very much to the guys driving like snails in front of us, please stay at home in your retirement home next time, f*cking d*cks. (Sorry mom.)
So that’s what we had to do. We exited the car and started digging, with our hands or tree branches or whatever. Also putting tree branches in front and behind of our wheels so it would get more grip when trying to get out. After 5-10 minutes 3 cars passed us and the last car stopped in front of us, reversing the car towards ours. Finally, we thought, we were about to be saved.
The guy who exited the car was a young guy, in his early 30’s. They were traveling with 3 cars towards Maun, 125km passed Khwai. The guy pulled us out and we decided to stay with this convoy of cars, because if we would get stuck again, they could help us and vice versa. The early 30’s guy was third in the convoy, while we were fourth.
The next road was only about 50-70 km, but we could only go 20-30km/h. One of the three cars had a small trailer behind it, so that could not go good for long. And it didn’t.
The car with small trailer got stuck in the loose sand, so the front car decided to pull the car out. However, as experienced the early 30’s guy looked with driving off-road, the not experienced the in their 60’s looking guys in the front two cars looked. The front car got stuck as well and eventually we all had to try and dig them out. Then a big old truck approached us and they decided to give them a hand as well. First they tried to pull out the first car, but without success. Instead the truck broke its clutch. Luckily they were able to repair it, but also this cost some time. In the meantime also another car entered our line of cars behind us.
Eventually the truck pulled the first car back to movement and afterwards also the second car. We could now continue our way.
After some time we saw another herd of elephants and when it was 5 o’clock, we reached Savuti, more than 100km’s before our daygoal Khwai. It became clear to us that we wouldn’t reach Khwai, and the rest of the convoy wouldn’t reach Maun that day. Therefore we decided to set up camp in Savuti, while the rest of the convoy continued their way.
At first they charged us US$50 a person, for us to set up our own tent and sleep there one night. I would love to open my own camping area one day and charge every person US$50 for a small piece of land, for one night… such a rip-off.
After making some jokes about the price and other options, we said we would continue our way then, but the girl said we wouldn’t make it to any other camp. So she decided to give us a break. Since our car had a South African registration number we had to pretend to be Afrikaans. The price for people from South Africa was much lower than the price people from Europe had to pay. We ended up paying 411 Pula for the both of us (US$41.) This was really not allowed, so I think she kind of fancied François a bit.
We set up our tent, in the middle of Chobe, on a camping spot with no fences around. The toilet and shower building did have a wall, which looked like a war-bunker to keep out the animals. 10 metres next to our tent laid elephant poo. They could really get close towards us that night. After we (there was no restaurant, so we had to) cooked our own chakalaka, pasta and tuna dinner we watched the stars and drank some wine. In the distance we could hear some elephants trumpet from time to time.
Just before we went to bed, I had to go to the toilet. So I walked the 100metres with a small torch to the bunker. After about 15 metres I heard a lion roar in the distance. Luckily it stayed in the distance and I only spotted a small mouse on my way to the bunker. We had really camped in the middle of nowhere, right between the wildlife.
The next morning we decided to skip Khwai and continued our way to Maun. While the first hours were bad sand roads again, afterwards the sand road improved and eventually some 40km before Maun the sand road turned into tar. Finally some comfort and driving speed again!
Once in Maun it was only around 13:00. Here we looked a bit around and asked a Dutch owned lodge if they had any accommodation available. Sadly they didn’t and they also told us there was not much left to do that afternoon, since all activities start in the morning. We asked one more sleeping place but also they didn’t have any activities left that day. Therefor we decided to have lunch (a very nice real beef burger!!!!) and continued our way towards Gaborone or Francistown.
At Khumaga we found a camping site named Tiaan’s Camp. An old friendly guy named Jack ran the campsite. He asked us how it was possible that we arrived that late (around 4 maybe?), so we told him that we came from Savuti that morning. He was really surprised that we made it this far in one day.
Jack was a friendly but strange fellow. When we asked if he served dinner or breakfast he said that he didn’t have it, because he already had a couple of people eating in his restaurant. Chakalaka, pasta and tuna it was, which was again very tasty. In the morning we had packed our stuff and we decided to have a coffee before leaving. We asked Jack for two coffees and he said: “we don’t have coffee right now, because they are busy with making breakfast.” Very strange, since we think that coffee is made for breakfast? Well all right Jack, old champ, Thank you and good-bye.
On our way towards Gaborone or Francistown, we decided to visit the Kalahari Desert. After we had dodged multiple cows, donkeys and goats on the road we left the tar road and entered the desert. The sight was truly amazing and the sand reached as far as the eye could see. We saw some ostriches and decided to return to the tar road after we had made some pictures.
After these sightings, we thought we should head for Francistown. After a couple of hours drive we arrived and went to our hotel, called City Inn. In Francistown we had the Beast cleaned from the inside and out. Finally, all the dust from the sandy roads was gone. We assumed…
The next day we took our time for once and left Francistown between 11 and 12. We headed for Pilanesberg National Park South Africa, which would be a real struggle, since the one gps app said it would take 7 hours; others said it would take 10 hours. In Europe this would be no problem of course, however in Africa, driving at night is highly NOT recommended because of all the dangers it brings.
After some hours we crossed the border, we were back in South Africa.
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